22.3

COUNTING CHILD SUPPORT IN THE FAMILIES FIRST
BUDGET

If the absent parent is paying child
support to a Families First assistance unit or applicant, the caseworker must
determine if the absent parent owes child support arrears to the caretaker in
order to establish the amount of child support to enter in the eligibility
and case management system.Instructions on how to make this determination and how to code the
eligibility and case management system are found in the Procedures section of
this chapter.

The child support plus any other countable income that the AU has is
used to determine Families First eligibility in the GIS and CNS tests.If the assistance unit is eligible with the
child support included, the child support is removed from the calculation
that determines the grant amount.The Budget
Effective Date in the eligibility and case management system will ensure that
the child support is removed from the grant calculation appropriately.Therefore, it is critical that the
caseworker enter the correct Budget Effective Date.Establishing the correct Budget Effective
Date is discussed in the Procedures section of this chapter.

Once the grant amount is calculated after taking into account any
earned and/or unearned income, the remaining unmet need for the assistance
unit can be filled by any child support collected for the children in that
month.